LDS Place

My dear brothers and sisters, I bear witness this afternoon of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and specifically of the doctrine of grace that He extends to all mankind. (See Jacob 4:6–7.) In so doing, I humbly recognize the great gift the Father has bestowed upon us because He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16.)

Seeking the Gift

Perhaps some of us have not received or known how to use the great gift of grace the Father has given to us through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift?” (D&C 88:33.) The prophet Zenock even said, “Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.” (Alma 33:16.)

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What do we say when someone asks us, “Have you been saved?” This question, so common in the conversation of some Christians, can be puzzling to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because it is not our usual way of speaking. We tend to speak of “saved” or “salvation” as a future event rather than something that has already been realized.

Good Christian people sometimes attach different meanings to some key gospel terms like saved or salvation. If we answer according to what our questioner probably means in asking if we have been “saved,” our answer must be “yes.” If we answer according to the various meanings we attach to the terms saved or salvation, our answer will be either “yes” or “yes, but with conditions.”

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Many believers in Jesus Christ consider the Apostle Paul’s teachings on grace among the most profound and sublime in all Christian literature. They know this fundamental doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ gives Christians hope of a better life through the grace of a merciful and just God.

Yet members of the Church sometimes have difficulty understanding Paul’s teachings in light of the restored gospel’s emphasis on individual effort and righteousness as requirements for eternal life.

On the road to Damascus, Saul, the Pharisee, scholar, and persecutor of the Saints, received a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ and, “trembling and astonished” (Acts 9:6), was persuaded to acknowledge his error. The scriptures evidence that after “certain days” in Damascus, Paul was a changed man (Acts 9:19; see also Acts 9:20–22). He had tasted of the power of the Atonement through the grace of a merciful God and had received a remission of his sins through the ordinance of baptism (see Acts 20:26). Paul often bore witness of the grace of Jesus Christ he had personally received. He had been born of the Spirit, had been tutored by authorized servants of God, had come to understand the great plan of redemption, and as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ had become acquainted with Him in a manner few in mortality are privileged to enjoy. Thus when Paul taught of grace, he did so with both personal knowledge and authority.

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When the Apostle Paul was imprisoned at Philippi, he was asked by a distressed jailer, “What must I do to be saved?”

Without reference to obedience or repentance or good works that he himself so often spoke of, Paul simply answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:30–31.)

But in a church that also has many ancient and modern scriptural passages stressing works of righteousness and the importance of obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, scriptural passages like Acts 16:31 often give rise to confusion.

“As far as I’m concerned,” one missionary said to his companion, “when somebody starts quoting Paul on salvation by grace, I just quote James on faith without works being dead (see James 2:17–26) and try to get off the subject as quickly as possible.”

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“Should there be anyone who feels he is too weak to do better because of that greatest of fears, the fear of failure, there is no more comforting assurance to be had than the words of the Lord: ‘My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them’ (Ether 12:27).”

Thomas S. Monson